He could feel it calling to him, he could feel it coming for him. He knew there was nothing he could do that he hadn't tried already. So far he had kept with the agreement and managed to do as asked, doing as he was told he had managed to get the various cults organized together in an amazingly short time, mostly thanks to his 'patron' offering proof when it was required. He'd planned to do it and then do his best to escape, but now he was going to get himself more indebted and he hated that.
With a pained sigh, Ethan Rayne wrote on the specialized paper he'd been told to get, so he could communicate with his new 'patron', requesting aide. A final look over the letter and he set fire to it and the progress reports, watching the ashes disappear to wherever it was that the being who currently owned him resided.
A dark room was suddenly brightened by a flash of fire as papers materialized on a desk. A figure stepped over to the desk and read the progress reports on the status of Satanic cults across the world and nodded before picking up an enclosed letter and reading it.
"Dear Master,
"As the progress reports show I have been successful in what you tasked for me. However to continue my work for you I need your assistance in a small matter regarding the demon Eyghon. I bear the mark of this demon and it has resurfaced and will eventually seek me out. As Your Humble Servant I ask you to grant me aide and safely deliver me from this lowly demon.
"Your Servant,
"Ethan Rayne"
With a cold chuckle at the sycophancy shown by his link to the Satanic cults the man threw away the paper and set about gathering the supplies he'd need. Ethan had yet to outlive his usefulness and his life would continue for the moment.
Ethan was growing nervous as he felt Eyghon getting closer. His patron had yet to contact him and if he didn't contact him soon Ethan may have to flee early. That thought was terrifying as well, to have both Eyghon and this being who appeared to be The Devil, both after him.
Fate would have a different choice for Ethan's future it would seem. Ethan breathed a sigh of relief as he saw ashes enter the home he'd fashioned above his former costume shop. As the ashes coalesced into a package which Ethan eagerly opened to fine a small vial of brownish liquid, as well as a note. Reading the note quickly and seeing it was directions, Ethan poured a small amount over the Mark of Eyghon he bore, as well as drinking some of the foul concoction.
Relieved of his fear, Ethan decided it was time for the first good night's sleep he'd had since the demon had returned. He drifted into dream without once giving a thought to those still left alive that Eyghon would come for.
That night as Ethan slept an old friend of his was killed by Eyghon, just feet from help. He died before he could warn his old friend Rupert Giles. Ethan was now free, another life had been taken and the final victim was unsuspecting. As Giles dreamt that night, he was revisited by nightmares of his youth. Nightmares which he would soon face again.
The next morning passed as most mornings do. Giles told Buffy to meet him at the hospital that night to make sure that no vampires made off with the hospital blood supply. Then the group had a bit of fun at the expense of Giles and Ms. Calendar as they watched their tentative flirting. Once out of sight of his charges he and the lovely Ms. Jenny Calendar set up a rather adult play date for the weekend. For the most part, Giles was having a rather good morning until he finally made his way to the library to find a woman and two police officers there.
"Rupert Giles?" Asked the plain clothed, dark skinned lady.
"Yes?" Giles said cautiously.
"Detective Winslow. You're gonna have to come with me." With a motion to herself the lady identified herself.
"Why?"
"There was a homicide on campus last night. The victim had no identification, but he was carrying this slip of paper with your name and address on it," Detective Winslow said, indicating a slip of paper already bagged.
Setting down his briefcase Giles asked, "My name?" Entering the library, Cordelia began her rant oblivious to anyone other than Giles being in the library. "Well, evil just compounds evil, doesn't it? First I'm sentenced to a computer tutorial on Saturday, now I have to read some computer book... There are books on computers? Isn't the point of computers to replace books?"
Giles interjected quickly, stopping Cordelia's rant with a trite: "Cordelia, I'm a little busy right now." And a motion to indicate the Detective.
Finally noticing there were others in the room Cordelia smiled. "Oh! Great," she started as she stepped up to the Detective. "Can you help me with a ticket? It's totally bogus. It was a one-way street. I was going one way."
Giles raised his voice a bit to call Cordelia's name in the hopes of getting her attention.
Frustrated, Cordelia complained. "What? Why does everyone always yell my name? I'm not deaf. And I can take a hint." She paused a second, unsure before she asked. "What's the hint?"
"To come back later."
"Yeah, when you've visited decaf land," Cordelia said as she left the library.
"Where do you want me to go?" Giles finally asked Detective Winslow.
"Come to the morgue with us please, maybe you can ID the body for us."
The visit to the morgue proved unnerving for Giles. The body they had found was that of an old friend from England, Phillip Henry. More disturbing was the tattoo he recognized, though he lied to the police when they asked about, that was on the body. After Giles had identified his old friend's remains he made his way home and attempted to locate some of his old friends. He was so engrossed in this task that he had forgotten about his meeting with Buffy at the hospital to oversee the blood delivery. He was reminded of this when Buffy came to his door to check on him. Assuring her he was fine he managed to send her away.
Getting back to what he was doing, Giles next call to try and find his old friends turned up another death among them. After he took a hearty drink, he marked the name off of the list and saw the only two remaining were his own name and that of Ethan Rayne.
Entering his bathroom and filling the sink full of water, rolled up his sleeves and splashed water on his face from the basin. Looking in the mirror he uttered, "So, you're back."
He stood there another moment staring at his own reflection before he heard a knocking at his front door. Moving swiftly along, and grabbing an axe to be safe he opens the view port, assured of who he saw he opens the door. "What the blazes are you doing out so late alone?"
"I needed to talk to you. Something… Something is coming, no, something is here. Something on a higher demonic scale than the usual vampires and demons, it's making my radar act up and has been since last night. More so now," Xander explained as he walked into Giles home without either mentioning it.
At the Sunnydale morgue, the body of one Phillip Henry awakened with yellow glowing eyes.
"Your radar?" Giles asked carefully as he locked his door and turned to face the young boy who was now fidgeting on his couch.
"Ever since Halloween I've kind of been able to feel when demons and such are around me. Like a Slayer sense, except that Slayers show up on it too," Xander said as he looked at his hands, so he didn't notice a rather odd look cross Giles face. "I've managed to figure out who and what some things are though. I can tell your, Buffy and Willow's vibes from other things, Angel's too in fact. He sends off a different… feel than regular vamps."
"Wait, you can sense Willow?"
"Yeah, hers is similar to Amy actually, I think Willow has the potential to be a witch of some power if she's trained. That's not going to get her into trouble is it?" Xander asked quickly.
"No, no of course not. I'll see if Willow would like to learn some, perhaps Jenny will help as well," Giles said trying to placate the fear he could see in Xander's eyes.
"Offer it to Amy too, if you could. She might still have some of her mom's spell books at home that you could use to help with the teaching," Xander said offhandedly as continued to find everything in the room, except the man he was speaking to, interesting.
"That's an excellent idea, they both should be trained, if you're right. As well, they might help in protecting the Hellmouth. Good thinking."
Xander shrugged and hid a slight coloring to his face.
Giles took a seat near Xander and looked at him, "But you were telling me about your radar?"
"Ever since last night I've been feeling something in town. I don't know what, it's powerful but… vague. I can't get a fix on it or tell anything about it. It's just raising my hackles," Xander shrugged helplessly at admitting this.
"Your hackles?"
"You know, kinda putting me on guard. I thought we could hit the research, see if there are any prophesies or the like that might be drawing something in."
"That's a very good idea Xander, however tonight why don't you go home and we'll work on it tomorrow. It's late for both of us and if we began to work now we may very well miss something important," Giles said as he moved to usher Xander out.
Getting up, Xander moved to the door while nodding. "Yeah, I'm a bit tired. I just hope I can get some sleep."
"Is your sensing of this thing so bad that you can't get to sleep?" Giles asked with a worried note to his voice.
Turning back to Giles from the doorway, Xander's eyes caught site of the dark tattoo on the older man's arm. Stifling the shock he felt, he forced himself to keep his voice even. "No, my parents… They were rather vocal when I left, I'm used to it though."
The older man paused for a moment, realizing how little of the home life of this boy, who had so recently become like a son to him, he knew of. "Oh, well if you'd like to stay h---" Giles started, only to be cut off by the boy.
"No thank you Giles, I'll be fine. Goodnight," Xander said as he left the home and became to walk back to his house. Xander would get to sleep rather late that night, as he used the Fur Journal to see if he was right about that mark he saw on his father figure, and that little sleep he got was filled with questions of what the older man had done in his past to get such a mark.
The next morning, in Sunnydale High, Xander met up with Ms. Calendar, Willow and Cordelia before heading to the computer room.
Along the way, Cordelia contributed her thoughts about weekend tutoring. "This isn't right. School on a Saturday. It throws off my internal clock."
"When are we gonna need computers for real life anyway?" Xander said, not able to resist commenting.
"Hmm, let's see. There's home, school, work, games…" Was Ms. Calendar's response as she unlocked the computer room door.
"Y'know, computers are on the way out. I think paper's gonna make a big comeback."
"And the abacus," Willow added after Xander.
"Yeah, you know, you don't see enough abaci," Was Xander's last shot as they all went into the computer room. The three students arranging themselves in front of the PC's, with Cordelia beside Xander.
Ms. Calendar enters behind them talking, "Alright, guys. The first thing we're gonna do is... Buffy!" Ms.Calendar says when she sees Buffy following her in.
"Huh? I know I was up late last night but did I fall asleep already?" Xander asked dazedly as he looked around.
"Aw, you miss your friends?" Willow asked with a smile.
"Uh, sit here, Buffs," Xander says standing up quickly. "Demilitarize the zone between me and Cordelia!"
"Yeah, and delouse him while you're at it."
Buffy turned to Ms Calendar. "Actually I wanted to talk to you for a second??
"Something wrong?"
"Did something happen to Giles?" Xander blurted.
Buffy pinned Xander with a look, "Why would you ask about Giles?"
Suddenly self-conscious Xander began looking around, "Well, he's the only one of the gang who isn't here, so, you know, I ask. But forget that, is there some crisis that requires instant action? Very far from here?"
"No… And actually, it is Giles," Buffy said. None of the ladies in the room noticed the look that crossed Xander's face at that.
"Well, he's alright, isn't he?" A concerned Jenny asked.
"I don't know," Buffy started worriedly, "uh, he didn't show up when he was supposed to last night, and then, when I went over to his place, he was acting... well, very anti-Giles. He wouldn't let me in, and he looked really bad. I-I think he might've been..." Buffy shook her head, not wanting to believe it before she finally found the courage to say it. "I think he was drinking."
"He was home alone drinking?" Jenny asked, making sure she was hearing right.
"But... tea, right?" Willow said hopefully.
"Wasn't tea, Will."
"He seemed that way a bit when I saw him last night…" Xander started before stopping under the looks. "What! It was a guy thing, I needed to talk with him about guy stuff. And he smelled a bit of booze and if I wanted that I'd just have talked to my dad, but he was okay and we talked a bit and then I went home."
"What were you…"
"Guy stuff Buffy…" Looking down and trying his best to look uncomfortable under the looks Xander hoped they didn't press it.
Letting Xander off the hook, Buffy went back to what was worrying her. "So, did any of you guys notice anything different lately?"
"No!" Willow said vehemently.
"Not really," came Jenny.
"Uh, you haven't seen anything weird?" Buffy asked of the others.
"Nope," was Xander's short reply, as he thought to himself 'But I've felt something weird…'
"No, he seemed perfectly normal yesterday when I saw him talking to the police," Cordelia shocked the group by saying. Everyone's eyes locked on the cheerleader.
"And you waited till now to tell us this because...?" Buffy asked expectantly.
"I didn't think it was important," was Cordelia's explanation.
"We understand. It wasn't about you," Xander said, hiding his worry behind his usual banter.
"Well, what were the police talking to him about?" Jenny asked.
"Oh, don't tell me, I know this one. Um..." Cordelia paused, trying to recall. "Something about... a homicide."
"That's it. I-I'm calling him right now," Buffy said, leaving to find a phone. Jenny stayed behind, rubbing her head in worry.
The dreams were haunting him again. They couldn't be numbed with alcohol, they always returned when he slept. The tattoo, the demon and dead friends haunted his dreams. Though this time they were mercifully broken by a ringing telephone.
Picking the phone up Giles mumbled into it, "Hello?"
"Buffy, unless this is an emergency I'll see you on Monday."
"I appreciate your concern but… Cordelia told you about that?"
"No, it's not something you need to… He did? Yes, I was but really Buffy it's nothing…"
"You didn't have to tell her I'm fine."
"Very well, I'll come there if it will allay your fears. I'll be there shortly."
With the phone call done Giles hung up his phone and grabbed a jacket. Just before he reached his door the phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"You slimy…"
"You what? Well who is your patron then?"
"Perfect then, if you don't have anything else to add I'll go wait for Eyghon to come for me since you so nicely escaped."
"Yes, well if I get there first I'll be sure to keep a seat warm for you."
With those words Giles slammed the phone back on it's cradle and left and began to make his way to the school library.
Across town Ethan smiled to himself as he hung up his phone. He figured Ripper could use a little warning that he was next. 'After all,' he thought to himself, 'what are old friends for?'
The reanimated body of Philip changed directions in its search for the Mark Bearers. The remaining one was on the move. But Eyghon would catch up with him.
It was just a while later that Giles arrived at the library to find Buffy impatiently waiting for him. Noticing she was alone, a brief pang of worry hit him for the others of the group he had grown to like. It was a fleeting pang, as Buffy clearly would have been more agitated had something happened to them. Unfortunately, that meant he was her primary focus.
"Very well Buffy, I'm here and in one piece. Will you cease your worrying now?" Giles asked as he went to his office to start a pot of tea.
"No Giles, you were acting all wiggy last night. I want to know what happened. You… you were drinking. And you forgot our meeting. Then Cordelia mentions you were being talked to about a homicide."
"Well if you must know Buffy, I had found out that an old friend had passed on mere feet from the library doors as he came to see me. I was rather upset, so I'm sorry that I forgot our meeting, but I was dealing with that," Giles said, keeping his face averted and his tone stiff.
"Oh. I'm sorry Giles, I didn't… I thought it was something Hellmouthy and was worried," Buffy said, a note of apology in her voice.
It was then that the reanimated body of Philip crashed through the window of Giles' office.
The fight with Philip was short and anticlimactic. Buffy and Giles both moved out into the library proper and Philip followed suit, calling for Giles. Giles, not having the heart to kill his old friend despite his already being dead, kept Philip's attention and led him over to the book cage. As Philip neared Giles, he seemed to forget Buffy, who shoved him from behind into the book cage. Locking it, and him, up tight.
"Giles, who is this and what does he want with you?" Buffy demanded.
Before Giles could reply the rest of the group arrived, Xander leading the way as Jenny, Willow and Cordelia followed. All taking note of Philip in the book cage.
"I know late returns are a pain Giles, but this is excessive," Xander smarted, looking at Philip.
Willow moved over and got a good look herself, then said. "I'm not gonna get close enough to feel his pulse, but… he looks dead."
"Except for the walking and trying to kill Giles part," Buffy said.
"He tried to kill you? What happened?" Jenny asked concernedly.
"That's what I want to know," Buffy demanded of Giles.
"This is… was, Philip. He's who the police found dead yesterday. He was an old friend of mine."
"Rupert," the animated body of Phillip called. "Ripper, we have unfinished business. You're the last one. I've missed you."
"No. Ethan is still out there, he's found someone to hide him from you. Even if you could get me, you'd not have us all. Leave Phillip now, let his body rest." Giles pleaded.
"You're all mine, I will have you all. You summoned me." The body said.
"Ripper? Ethan? Summoned? Did I miss the first act?" Buffy asked, looking between the caged thing and Giles.
"This doesn't concern you Buffy, I'll deal with this."
"It does concern me, you concern me. You're my Watcher and that's a thing, and I'm supposed to kill the things. Remember?"
"We're all here for you Giles," Xander said, to which Willow nodded and Cordelia also nodded, after an elbow to the arm from Xander.
"I'll be happy to help," Jenny said.
"Please, this is my problem. I thought I'd dealt with…" Giles was interrupted as Phillip's body broke the cage door and swung it open hard, hitting Ms Calendar and knocking her out. Xander jumped away from him and pulled Cordelia with him as it lunged toward Giles. Giles, for his part, rushed to Jenny's side as Buffy put herself between Phillip and Giles.
It was another anticlimactic fight. It took three kicks to Phillip and he staggered back into the side of the cage. As he came back to attack Buffy, his eyes widened and he convulsed before falling to the floor next to Jenny. His body quickly disintegrated into a puddle of expanding slime as everyone watched on.
"Now there's something you don't see everyday," Willow muttered.
"I'm going to be in therapy until I'm thirty," Cordelia added.
"Think we can get group rates?" Xander asked, as he and the rest now focused on Ms Calendar as Giles checked her over. They were all so wrapped up in this, watching as Giles checked her vitals, that none of them noticed the slime touch her hand or the hand convulse in reaction. They did, however, see her regain consciousness.
The others stayed nearby, but not so close to intrude as Giles and Jenny spoke to each other, Giles helping her up and towards the table in the library.
"This is what happens when you have school on a Saturday," Cordelia said, earning a look from Xander that was half incredulous and half agreement.
No one saw that Jenny's eyes glowed a yellow like a cat's after she leaned her head on Giles' shoulder. Nor did anyone see Xander's eyes narrow at the same time as he stared at them and moved uncomfortably.
As Giles sat stroking Jenny's hair, Buffy came back into the library with a fresh ice pack and handed it to Giles. With a nod, he put it to Jenny's head and felt her stiffen then relax from its touch.
Buffy waited until Giles asked how Jenny's head was and, hearing that it was throbbing, she asked her question. "Giles, what's going on?"
"It's complicated, Buffy, and quite frankly, it's private," Giles said gruffly, not looking from Jenny.
"I don't care from private! I care from dead guys attacking us. I care from you lost weekending in your apartment," Buffy said, raising her voice a little and trying to get her feelings across to her Watcher.
With a sigh, Giles spoke."I wasn't... I was just trying to find a solution."
"Giles, share!" Buffy demanded as Xander walked over beside her.
"Does this have anything to do with the Mark of Eyghon?" Xander asked calmly.
"Hey!" Giles says forcefully, trying to stare down his young charges. "This is not your battle! And as your Watcher," Giles stands here, trying to impose on them both, "I'm telling you both unequivocally to stay out of it!"
Ignoring the stunned look of Buffy and level gaze of Xander, Giles simply made his excuse of needing to get Jenny home and helped her up and out.
Once Giles has left, Buffy turned on Xander. "What do you know?"
"Know? Nothing… I've got a suspicion, but I want to check it out from an outside source. But I think this might deal with Eyghon," Xander said as he moved back to the counter where Cordelia and Willow sat and leaned.
"Well, we have work to do. Xander, help Willow find out anything and everything you can about the Mark of Eyghon. Let's see if your suspicion is right, it's the best thing we've got right now."
"I'll try the 'Net, but 'Mark of Eyghon' sounds like Giles and his books sorta deal," Willow said.
"Then we hit the books," Buffy said, as she moved to the table and Willow headed into the stacks.
"Xander, how do you feel about digging through some of Giles' personal files and seeing what you can find?" Buffy asked once settled.
"I feel pretty good about it. Does that make me a sociopath?" He pauses a moment, "Nah. But I think since, you know, it's my suspicion I should check the books."
"Okay, good point, you do that then," Buffy says, when Cordelia hops off the counter and smiles. "What?"
"What about me? I care about Giles," Cordelia says.
"Okay, you can check through Giles personal files then help Xander," Buffy says then.
"Well, when I say 'care,' I, I mean…"
"Cordelia…"
"Okay, okay!" Cordelia says, heading to Giles' office. Buffy went on to do what she could to help as well.
"Thanks for bringing me here. I'm not quite ready to be home alone just yet," Jenny says as she sits on a couch in Giles' apartment. Giles offers her a drink that she accepts as he sits down next to her and takes a sip, making an appreciative noise.
"Jenny, uh... I'm so very sorry about all of this," he says, sitting down his drink and taking off his glasses, "I, uh... I never meant for you to be involved in, in, uh, any of this."
"So I got involved," Jenny said, leaning toward him, "That's what happens when two people get involved."
Giles looked at the lovely woman in front of him and smiled. He began to make a move in to kiss her but stopped himself short. "I really am, however, going to have to get you home. It's not, uh… I'm not a very safe person to be around at the moment."
"Nothing's safe in this world, Rupert. Don't you know that by now?" Jenny asked as she reached up and stroked his head behind his ear lovingly.
"You were right Xander, it was Etruscan not Egyptian," Willow said as she held open a book that showed a picture that matched a sketch on a piece of paper of the tattoo Giles bore. "I, and many it seems, mistook it for Egyptian by the design pattern, but you can see when you really look that it predates their iconology. Look, the Mark of Eyghon, worn by his initiates." Willow reads from the book, "'Eyghon, also called the Sleepwalker, can only exist in this reality by possessing an unconscious host. Temporary possession imbues the host with a euphoric feeling of power.'"
"Yeah, but what about non-temporary?" Buffy asked, as Xander sat listening and nodding his head as this confirmed what he'd read the night before.
Again, Willow read aloud. "'Unless the proper rituals are observed, the possession is permanent, and Eyghon will be born from within the host.'"
"I'm guessing eww!" Cordelia opined.
"I'm thinking a scene from 'Alien' and a 'Hello My Baby, Hello My Honey' routine," Xander added.
"Wait. Hey, listen. 'Once called, Eyghon can also take possession of the dead, but its demonic energy soon disintegrates the host, and it must jump to the nearest dead or unconscious person to continue living.'" Willow said, finished reading from the book.
"I still don't get what this has to do with Giles," Buffy said. Xander's face fell as he got the feeling he knew what it had to do.
"I don't know about Giles, but ancient sects used to induce possession for bacchanals and, and orgies," Willow said.
Xander spoke quickly, not even thinking before he spoke. "Okay! Giles and orgies in the same sentence. I coulda lived without that one." Cordelia looked to agree… or she could have lived without hearing Xander's comment. It was a toss up.
"Uh, wait a minute. The dead guy's all puddly now," Buffy said.
"So the demon's gone. There was no one dead to jump into. I mean, we're all not dead, right?" Cordelia asked hopefully.
"No, no one dead," Buffy said, sounding a little relieved.
Xander's voice was heavy as he spoke next, "But someone unconscious."
It was a moment before that sunk in to the rest at the table.
"What was that?" Giles asked from the kitchen, just after Jenny ripped the phone cord from the wall.
"What was what?" Jenny asked, hiding the end of the phone cord.
"I thought I heard something," Giles said as he came from the kitchen with tea.
Jenny politely lied that she didn't hear anything then Giles handed her a cup of tea, asking her to drink it and that he'd then take her home..
After taking a sip, Jenny began, "You could take me home," setting the cup down, "Or you could take advantage of me in my weakened state."
"Thank you, operator," Buffy finishes before hanging up the phone and turning to the others. "There's no answer at Ms. Calendar's, and Giles' phone is out of order. I'm gonna go over there."
"We'll be there soon Buffy, I've got an idea or two I want to check out. Don't kill or beat up Ms. Calendar if you can help it, we don't want it to jump to you too," Xander says, barely looking up from his book.
"Gotcha."
"Jenny, uh..." As Giles pulled away he stammered. "I'm, I'm really very attracted t-to you."
"Good," Jenny said as she followed his movement.
"But, um, now really isn't the right time."
"Oh, there's never been a better time." With that, Jenny pushed Giles back onto a chair and climbed onto his lap. Moving in, she kissed him hard before he pushed her away.
"It's not right. I would be taking advantage," Giles said to her.
Getting off of Giles lap Jenny gave him a glare before pacing. "God, you just don't change, do you?"
"What?"
"It's not right, it wouldn't be proper, people might get hurt. You're like a woman, Ripper. You cry at every funeral. You never had the strength for me. You don't deserve me." Jenny said harshly, before then moving in and whispering "But guess what? You've got me." Suddenly her voice turned deep and menacing. "Under your skin."
Grabbing his hair, Jenny lifted Giles to his feet and kissed him roughly. As the kiss ends her face starts to transform to that of Eyghon, a hideous visage. "Was it good for you?" Eyghon asked, before smashing Giles' head into the phone on his desk. "Aw, you never had the stomach. But that's okay. 'Cause I'm about to rip it out!"
Eyghon pulled him back, causing him to cry out and stagger backwards into the bar and fall to the floor. It was at this moment that Buffy kicked open the door and launched a kick at Eyghon, connecting hard with its jaw and sending it back over the couch and into the floor. Eyghon got up swiftly and eyed Buffy.
"Back off!" Buffy commands, standing between Eyghon and Giles.
Eyghon laughed at the girl, "Three down, two to go. He can't hid forever. Be seeing ya." It said before diving through the window.
Buffy crouched down beside Giles, "Are you alright?"
"Oh, Jenny! Oh, God!"
"I think we'll have to go with your idea Will," Xander said as he shut the Fur Bible.
"Really? I mean, didn't your book have anything else? And it was your idea, well, what you said, well, read, about it," Willow babbled, uncertain that her idea would work.
"Other than things that'd kill Ms Calendar too? Well, it did, but the Magic Box in town was sold out of the cold indrid wings when I checked the other day and didn't expect a restock for at least two weeks. Ms. Calendar doesn't have that long." Xander laid his head on the desk a moment. "Do you want to do it or should I? It'd probably go easier if it was you."
"I'll do it. Um, if you know where, that is."
"Yeah, that won't be a problem. Cordelia, did you find anything in Giles' office?"
"His banking records are sad, well maintained but with so little to work with it wouldn't be hard. Phone records are the same. I did find this," Cordelia said, holding out a picture of a young Giles in a leather jacking and playing an electric bass.
"That looks like Giles' head on Sid Vicious' body," Xander muttered, then shuddered and went "Ew."
"What, he's kind of cute there," Willow said then blushed.
"Definite bad boy material," Cordelia agreed.
"Yeah, but I noticed the nail polish and flashed onto Giles hitting the RHPS sometime," Xander said, again shuddering.
"Oh? Oh!" Willow said before blushing more.
"I don't get it," was all Cordelia had to add.
It was with a hesitant voice that Giles began to explain what happened to first bring Eyghon into his life. "I was twenty-one, studying history at Oxford. And, of course, the occult by night. I hated it. The tedious grind of study, the... overwhelming pressure of my destiny. I dropped out, I went to London... " Giles paused, a deep exhale of breath later, and he picked back up. "I fell in with the worst crowd that would have me. We practiced magicks. Small stuff for pleasure or gain. And Ethan and I discovered something... bigger."
"Eyghon."
"Yes. One of us would, um..." Giles nervously poured himself a drink, working hard not to spill it, "go into a deep sleep, and the others would, uh, summon him. It was an extraordinary high!" A sad, tired bitter smile graced Giles face, "God, we were fools."
"You couldn't control it."
Giles nodded and continued, "One of us, Randall, he lost control. Eyghon took him whole. We tried to exorcise the demon from Randall, but it killed him. No. We killed him. We thought we were free of the demon after that. But now he's back. And one by one, he will kill us all."
"Three down, two to go?" At Giles nod, Buffy continued. "Then it's going after Ethan. Any idea where he is?"
"No. He contacted me though, told me he had someone who was hiding him from Eyghon. If what he said is true then…"
"Then Eyghon's going to come right back after you," Buffy finished.
"Buffy… I don't know how to stop it without killing Jenny."
"I've got the guys working on it. I'll, um, try to contain it until we figure something out. Let's get you to the library and see if they have anything for us yet."
"You do this all the time? No wonder you're all losers."
"Yes Cordelia, saving our teachers makes us losers. I'm sure though that such a great winner like you must have a nail that needs touching up. So you can go on home and work on it." Xander shot back to Cordelia as they sat alone in the library.
"My nails are done by professionals so they look their best. Some people around here take pride in their appearance. I'm here to encourage others to be beautiful."
"And shallow, and an airhead, and a ravi…" Xander stopped as the doors to the library opened and Buffy and Giles entered.
"Did you get anything?" Buffy asked immediately.
"Yeah, Wills had an idea. She's off to get what we need. You okay Giles?" Xander asked, noting the haggard state of the man.
"I will be if we can save Jenny."
Those words had barely left Giles mouth before Eyghon broke though the window of the library, the twisted image of Ms Calendar snarling. "He can't hide forever, but I can get you now!" The demon lunged at Giles only to be shoved away by Buffy. This bought enough time for Giles to back away. Meanwhile, Xander shoved Cordelia behind him and started moving her to the back exit of the library.
"Cordy, if it gets past Buffy you need to run. Don't look back, just run and find Willow," Xander said, a forced calm to his voice. Reaching under his baggy, and loud, shirt, Xander produced the Breathing Gun from his waist line and held it loosely beside him, watching and waiting. With his other hand he produced a small container of salt.
"What, you're going to shoot and season it? And why do you have that?" Cordelia asked quickly, trying not to watch the fight.
"Decided to do the Boy Scout thing and always be prepared," Xander said by way answering.
The fight, in the meanwhile, was intense. The demon had added a good deal of strength to the body it inhabited, and Buffy was holding back trying not to kill her teacher. The demon threw a punch which Buffy quickly ducked, returning with a punch to the demon's chest. Neither combatant noticed as Xander moved behind Eyghon, or what he seemed to have been pouring the salt on the floor.
He was noticed when he yelled to Buffy though. "Quick, put it inside the circle!" Xander yelled, as he knelt at the edge of the circle of salt. Buffy, tiring of the fight, push the demon back quickly. It stepped over the salt and into the circle, which Xander touched with a finger then stepped back. When Eyghon tried to rush Buffy again, it bounced off an invisible barrier made at the salt.
"What is that?" Buffy and Cordelia both asked, as Giles came over and looked and nodded appreciatively.
"Temporary," came Xander's reply.
"You did well Xander, excellent circle. You've practiced this?" Giles said, doing his best to avoid looking at Eyghon.
"No, not something like this. It won't hold for long, I couldn't put much power into it. As soon as Willow arrives I'll take it down, if it lasts that long…" Xander said, a bit of sweat on his forehead. Eyghon, in the meanwhile, was hammering the barrier, a shimmer showing where it hit and growing. "Oh boy, it's going faster than I thought."
The barrier broke quickly and Xander, who was closest, was hit first and knocked a good ten feet away where he landed roughly on his back and let out a cry of pain. Buffy, meanwhile, still not having gotten her breath back from the far too brief pause, was struck and knocked a few feet away to hit the counter of the library and slump down, breathing heavily.
Eyghon moved toward Giles, deliberately with swaying hips and an evil smile. Giles did his best to back up slowly to try and draw Eyghon from his children. Xander had gotten up, but looked dazed, while Buffy was still shaking her head and not focusing on anything. It was then that Angel pushed through the library doors quickly, making a beeline for Eyghon and wrapping his hands around it's throat, using his vampire strength to keep the demon prying his hands from it's neck.
"He's killing her!" Giles yelled to Xander as he moved to stop Angel. Before Giles could get close enough to Angel to stop him, Xander grabbed him and held him back.
"Wait Giles," Xander said as Willow ran over to them.
"Trust me, this is gonna work," Willow said, her eyes pleading to Giles to trust her.
Xander moved away from them to check on Buffy quickly, as Angel continued to choke Eyghon. Finally though, Eyghon has to jump from Jenny's unconscious body and into the nearest dead one it could find. That of Angel. Xander stood straight beside Buffy, the Breathing Gun pointed at Angel as he convulsed and hit the floor. His face shifted between that of Eyghon and his game face.
Giles rushed over, calling Jenny's name and fell to his knees beside her to see if she was truly okay. Willow came over beside them as well, and they dragged Jenny away from Angel as it seemed Eyghon had taken control, before Angel's face took over again and more convulsions ensued. Finally, Angel's face took over and he collapsed to the floor as Eyghon was expelled from his body. Without a host, Eyghon quickly turned to an ash-like substance and fell to the library floor.
Giles holds on to Jenny, murmuring to her and trying to comfort her as the others look about. "You knew that if the demon was in trouble it was gonna jump into the nearest dead person," Buffy said to the group.
"I put it in danger," Angel said.
"And it jumped," Willow said smiling.
As he got up, Angel said, "I've had a demon inside me for a couple hundred years... just waitin' for a good fight."
"Winner and still champion," Buffy said, smiling at her boyfriend.
"Well, at least it's over," Cordelia said as she came back down the steps from the upper level of the library where she'd hidden.
"Yeah…" Xander said quietly, as he watched Jenny clinging to Giles.
"Puttin' that demon into Angel was pretty brill, Will," Xander said as he, Buffy and Willow walked across the school's campus.
"I wasn't sure it was gonna work," Willow said, trying to downplay her saving the day.
"But it did," Buffy said happily to her friend.
"Like a charm. I wouldn't have thought of it, none of us would've. You saved her so don't go being all Willow about it," Xander said smiling and dodging Willow's elbow at the "being all Willow" comment.
"Hey! Maybe you should consider a career as a Watcher," Buffy suggested.
"Oh, no, I don't think I could handle the stress."
"And the dental plan is crap," Xander said.
"I don't see how Giles does it," Willow said.
The group saw him walking. "I don't think he has a choice," Buffy said sadly.
Giles caught Ms. Calendar as she was about to go upstairs. At hearing him call she turned and looked at him a bit apprehensively. "Rupert, hi."
"Uh... I-I-I tried to call you last night, s-see how you were," Giles said, stammering nervously. He hadn't seen her since Eyghon had been destroyed two days ago.
"Yeah, I-I-I, uh... I left my phone off the hook. I seem to need a lot of sleep lately," Jenny said by way of explanation.
"But, but you're al-alright? Is, is, is there anything you need?" Giles asked. A hopeful look was on his face, wanting to anything he could to help her.
"Mm, no, I'm fine. I mean, I'm not... running around, wind in my hair, 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' fine, but... I'm coping," Jenny's voice held a sad note at this, a bit of strength riding under it.
"I, I would like to help."
"I know."
"Perhaps we could, um, talk sometime, um... dinner, or, or a drink? When you're feeling stronger," Giles suggested.
"Sure, sometime," Jenny said. Giles reached out to her, to take her hand and in some small way show her comfort. But she took a step backward and drew in a deep breath, a look of panic crossing her face then quickly being hidden. "Yeah. Sometime," she said before pausing. "I better get to class."
"Yes, of course," Giles said. He stood there and watched her go up the stairs, then looked down sadly after she was gone from sight. After a moment, he made his way toward the library, when Buffy caught up to him. They rounded a corner then stopped.
"Is she okay?"
"Um… The hills are not alive," Giles said depressingly.
From the look on her face, Buffy clearly didn't understand. "I'm sorry to hear that. I think."
"I don't think she'll ever really forgive me… Maybe she shouldn't."
"Maybe you should."
"I never wanted you to see that side of me," Giles said to Buffy. His body language practically radiating shame.
"I'm not gonna lie to you. It was scary. I'm so used to you being a grownup, and then I find out that you're a person."
"Most grownups are."
"Who would've thought?" Buffy said jokingly.
"Some are even, uh... shortsighted, foolish people."
"So, after all this time, we finally find out that we do have something in common. Which, apart from being a little weird, is kind of okay. I think we're supposed to be training right now," Buffy said a bit too cheerfully for that.
"Yes. Yes. Um, need to concentrate on your flexibility."
"And you know what? I have just the perfect music," Buffy said as she held up a cd. "Go on, say it. You know you want to."
"It's not music, it's just, uh, meaningless sounds."
"There. Feel better?"
"Yes. Thanks. But I think before we begin on your flexibility you should do some running," Giles suggested.
"The usual laps around the school without Snyder spotting me?"
"Yes, certainly. It will give me the time to find my cd of the Bay City Rollers. Now that's music," Giles said as he walks toward the library through the final hall.
"I didn't hear that!" Buffy said, yelling back as she went to do the laps.
Giles was pleased to see Xander was in the library like he'd asked him to be. And from what he saw on the desk, Xander had indeed brought the Fur Journal and the Breathing Gun in.
"I already spoke to your teacher Xander, you won't be in any trouble for this period. And thank you for bringing those here so we could talk," Giles said.
"No problem, I'm always happy to get out of class," Xander said with his characteristic grin.
"Yes, I'm sure. You pulled of a nice barrier last night Xander, had you tried that before?"
"Not really, I mean. I kind of knew how and I figured I should try something. Buffy was needing to catch her breath and…"
"I understand. Have you tried any other spells Xander?" Giles said, looking intently at the boy. "After my… youthful indiscretions came back, I thought I should have a talk with you about this now. I'll be having talks with Willow and Amy both later. I've decided to listen to your advice to see about training them."
"That's great, I'm sure they'll make excellent witches," Xander said, deftly trying to avoid answering.
"Yes, I believe they will. Now, have you cast any other spells?" Giles said, his face showing he would not be deterred again.
"Yes. Just a glamour or two…" Xander said.
"What type and how powerful?" Giles asked, looking the boy over critically and noticing some barely visible stirrings of magic on him. In fact he wasn't sure he actually did see the stirrings.
"Just a concealment and… It's a permanent glamour, it only ends if I, you know, will it to end."
"What are you hiding then?"
With a sigh Xander pulled unbuttoned his painfully loud over shirt and lifted up his undershirt to show a smooth and somewhat muscular chest. Which was quickly replaced with a muscular chest now bearing a very large pentagram birthmark on it.
"Just a side effect of Halloween."
Ms. Calendar sat at her desk in class absentmindedly going over her classroom itinerary. Her mind was still back on Saturday, when she'd been violated and her body taken over by a demon. Not just a demon, but one that the man she was developing feelings for had summoned. The pit of pain inside her made her want to scream and cry, it was almost palatable to those around her. The students tried to avoid her this class, except for the new student who came up, noticing how sad she looked.
"Are you okay Ms. Calendar? Is there anything wrong?" The new girl asked.
"No. I just had a bad weekend. One that you can't take back or forget no matter how hard you try," Ms. Calendar graced the girl with a nice smile. "Thank you for asking though. I just wish... none of this stuff had ever happened."
Ms Calendar registered that the face of her new student had become very wrinkled and raw looking. With one word the world as she knew it came to a screeching end.
"Done."